Around The Block
by Innocence Has a Gun
Summary: A modern AU. The Noctircus family's just moved into the neighborhood. A series of small fics stretched over a year of their time.
1. Chapter 1

"Huh? Oh, some new people are moving in."

Eco watches from his perch in the tree across the street as movers move furtniture into the house. An older looking guy commands them - 'iHe looks too young to be a dad though. Older brother?/i' - as two younger teens stand around the mailbox looking, and likely feeling, generally helpless. One of them is pretty and blonde, just the older one, but the other-

The other one is what catches his eye. Short dark hair, dark eyes, stance a little formal for _brothers_. Eco smiles, steeples his fingers, and slips off the branch.

How interesting.

Once they're settled in, he makes it his mission to talk to the teenager. It's difficult though - he never goes out when Eco's riding by, though it's obvious that he does if the treehouse in the backyard is slowly getting built, plank by plank. Besides, it wasn't exactly the summer anymore; as soon as they were really settled, the younger brothers would have to go to school, right? He had plenty of time to make his move, in that case.

But he's luckier than that.

On his paper route one evening, he spots him sitting on the porch, reading in the dim light from the broken porchlight. Eco smiles sheepishly - he had done that, in an accident with a rouge newspaper and a flying fish - and readies his arm.

He hits the boy straight in the side of the face.

The teenager looks up, glares, and grabs the newspaper, brandishing it like a dangerous weapon as Eco swerves back around on his bike and sits at the mailbox.

"Watch where you're throwing those!"

"Sorry! My aim's a little off this late. What's your name?"

"-What? Go home! Scat!"

Eco frowns at the dismissal - what is he, a rich kid? - and waves cheerfully.

"You're on my route, so I hope I get to see you again, Mr. Grumpy-Gills!"

Mr. Grumpy-Gills scowls - he can see it in the dim light, and the shadow's countour turns it into something uglier - and Eco bikes off before he can say another word. He returns the same time the next day, and even hangs around for a little while longer to see if Grumpy-Gills will come out, but no dice; he only sees the curtains move back once, then yanked back into place. Eco blows a piece of hair upwards, stretches, and continues on his route. He'd definitely catch him later.


	2. Chapter 2

The air is crisp and cold with ice; even the mug of hot chocolate between his mittens can't warm up his hands, least of all the bundles of jackets and the soft, wooly scarf he had gotten as a birthday present. Belca sighs, effectively blowing steam off of the mug, and leans his elbows on the porch railing. Something moves behind him and he glances back, only to find Eco dressed as Santa behind him. Eco laughs at his apparently incredulous look and leans on the porch beside him.

"...Seriously, Eco?"

"What? The kids downtown liked it! Eco's never been cuter~"

Belca rolls his eyes and goes back to stare at his hot chocolate. He feels Eco's eyes on him, but they're turned away when he looks over. He frowns, and makes a face when Eco suddenly pushes a miniature candy cane into his mouth.

"Don't look so sour! Three days until Christmas. You wouldn't want Santa to bring you coal, would you?"

"Santa's not real. Besides, I don't _get_ presents anymore. I buy them for other people."

"Did you get Eco something?"

"No. Do you have to refer to yourself like that?"

"It's cute!"

A pause, and Eco licks his own minicandy cane thoughtfully.

"Anyways, you should come inside. It's getting really cold out here!"

Belca glances through the screen door - life, laughter, light; fixing the Christmas tree, hanging last-minute mistletoe - and shakes his head. It isn't that hard to read the atmosphere whenever he steps into a room; his brothers may be cheered to see him, and Linna as well, but the maids always get wary and the servants move closer to his siblings, as if to protect them. Belca can't stand it, but it's understandable. Who would trust a troublemaker?

As if reading his thoughts, Eco moves closer and uncomfortably (for Belca, at least) leans his head on his shoulder. They stay like that for a while, before Belca starts to move and Eco filches the hot cocoa from him.

"Well, I'm going inside. I only came out here to get you, 'cause we're gonna start wrapping presents soon."

Belca scowls and reaches for his drink; Eco moves it away and sips from it, humming, looking pleased. He traces the edge of the cup with his tongue, collecting the little drops left, and looks coyly over the cup at Belca.

"That's an indirect kiss, Belca~"

"Go inside, idiot! And- keep the stupid drink!"

Eco laughs again and steps closer, just to give him a peck on the cheek (the spot _burns_ and he doesn't have to look in a mirror to know his face is flushed), before turning and opening the door. Sounds of busy work and laughter float through it, and grudgingly Belca follows him inside, dodging the mistletoe hanging above the door by a few seconds. He shuts the door behind him and heads straight for the refreshments, grabbing a fresh cup of hot chocolate and wincing when some spills onto his hand. He's wiping it off when he feels someone tap his shoulder; he turns around quickly, and sighs when he sees it's only Linna.

"Are you alright, my lord?"

"Don't be so old fashioned. I'm fine, Linna."

"Then why did you-"

"Startled. I wasn't expecting anyone to come and get me. What's up?"

Linna smiles and takes his hand - Belca frowns and blames the heat from the hot chocolate for whatever redness might flush up ,just as he had for the cold from Eco's kiss - and pulls him out towards the tree.

They're caught in the doorway by an all-too gleeful Eco, who points upwards. Linna's eyes travel up the wood, and he flushes. Belca doesn't need to even look.

"How many sprigs?"

"O-One."

"Alright."

He stands on his tiptoes and gives Linna and peck on the cheek, hurrying towards the fireplace and settling down by it. After a moment, Linna joins him, and Eco finds a home draped over Belca and nuzzling his cheek. Belca scowls, but the writer's not deterred; if anything, he's encouraged.

"It's a lot warmer like this for Eco, you know? Body heat."

"You don't _need_ to get warm, we're next to the fire and you have three coats on."

"Mm~"

Linna looks worried; Eco's highly amused; Belca wishes he were someplace else. Anywhere but home.

The door opens, and Eco presses closer as a gust of cold air blows through. _God_ but this was uncomfortable- Belca pushes Eco off and closer to the fire, leaning back to see who arrived - and immediately goes back to letting Eco cuddle him, staring heatedly into the fire.

Kiliko Lagen.

Orcelito seems to greet him warm enough, though there's an underlying iciness that Belca can't quiet place. Kiliko greets him much the same way, and they sit on the couch talking quietly. The conversation drifts in and out of his hearing, but Belca doesn't pay much mind to it; it's suspiciously hard to eavesdrop when someone's molesting your earlobe with their tongue. Belca shoves Eco off again, blushes angrily, and glares.

"Did you drink or something?"

Eco stares at him for a moment, then smiles and pulls something out of his pocket.

"Just a little eggnog before I went out to get you. Hey, Belca, look out! Mistletoe~"

Belca looks up - two sprigs, _Eco_ - and looks back down, staring at the writer. A beat.

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"- I'm not kissing you."

He stands up and Eco follows suit, a pout gracing his features.

"Don't be such a Grinch! Besides, if you turn away from a mistletoe then you're gonna have bad luck all year."

"I don't care! I'm _not_ kissing you, Eco!"

They're definitely starting to attract the attention of the rest of the party; Kiliko and Orcelito pause their talk to stare at the scene. Orcelito looks shocked, and it seems the only thing keeping him from jumping up to help his younger brother is Kiliko's hand on his leg. Kiliko, on the other hand, couldn't look more amused if he tried.

Eco pulls out Pleading Look #54, and Belca grits his teeth. It wouldn't be so bad. He was definitely just making a fuss over nothing.

If he told himself that enough, would he start to believe it?

The kiss is a gentle, chaste one; just the brush of lips, nothing more, and Eco flops back to the floor, stretching out in front of the fire like a content cat, the sprigs of mistletoe clutched between his fingers. Belca avoids looking at anyone and says his good nights. He heads to bed, happy to have some sort of reprive from the overwhelming atmosphere.

It doesn't last long, but he's actually happy to see the person who wanders in; Linna peeks into the room, frowns at Belca sitting up in bed, and takes a seat beside him. The quiet is awkward; they both start to say something, then stop, eyeing the other.

"You go first, Linna. What is it?"

"It's nothing, my lord. What was yours?"

"I was just going to ask what you were doing up so late."

"Likewise to you."

"Can't sleep."

Belca flops back and Linna twiddles his thumbs. Three beats pass before Linna speaks again.

"My lord, would you... permit me a good night kiss?"

Belca sits up and stares at Linna, who glances away and frowns.

"I-"

Before he can say another word, Belca's lips are on his; it lasts a few seconds (a few eternities) before he pulls away and turns away under the covers. Linna touches his lips, stands and turns away.

"Night Linna."

"Good night, my lord."

Belca drifts to sleep as soon as Linna leaves; he isn't woken up again, and for that, he's thankful.


	3. Chapter 3

He's lucky he sees him on the way back; he catches him by the shoulder when he's looking into the mailbox, and Grumpy-Gills automatically shoves his hand away and clutches the bills to his chest. Eco smiles, and holds out his hand.

"Welcome to the neigborhood! I'm Eco, your newspaper boy."

Grumpy-Gills gives him an incredulous look, then takes the hand offered and shakes it slowly.

"Aren't you a little too old to be doing that?"

"It's just part-time. I'm a novelist."

"Ah."

Eco doesn't let go of his hand; he threads his fingers through his and smiles.

"You didn't tell me your name."

"It's- Belca. Let go of my hand."

Eco wiggles his fingers against his knuckles - Belca, huh? What a cute name - and tilts his head to the side.

"Have you explored town yet? I could show you some really nice spots!"

Belca seems legimately surprised at this; hesitantly, as Eco scoots up a little and pats behind him on the seat, he climbs on and secures his arms around his waist. There isn't a lot of room, but Belca can manage with putting his feet up on the back tire's bars. They ride in silence, except for the occasional _ring-ring_ of Eco's bell in greeting to people he knows. When he glances over his shoulder, Belca's giving him an 'are you serious?' look. He shrugs, turns back to the road-

and swerves to the right just in time to missing hitting a bright orange cone. Belca's holding onto him tightly, and Eco's laughing his head off, and they're both _fine_, okay, fine, but Belca's still digging his fingers into his sides when they finally stop off at a café. It's a pretty quaint place - like one out of the Victorian eras, all frills and laces - so Eco _loves_ Belca's surprised face when a maid with cat ears comes to take them to their seat. When she leaves with their orders (two teas, with two sugars for Eco) does Eco explain.

"This is a cosplay café. It's the only one here. I'm really great friends with the owner 'cause the girls like me to sing to them, so I always - oh! Tea's here."

He takes it graciously from the girl, sets Belca's in front of him, and after sipping, continues,

"I always get treats. The tea's not poisoned, Belca, try it."

Belca's quiet, obviously uncomfortable, confused, and not exactly thirsty. He lifts the cup to his lips, sips, and winces at the hot liquid rushing down his throat. A big bosomed woman makes her way over to their table, and Eco smiles cheerfully at her.

"Afternoon, Ricolise! This is the new kid I was telling you about. His name is Belca. Belca, this is Ricolise. She runs the café, and she lets me stay upstairs as long as I work for it."

"Belca, huh? Nice to meet you."

"Uh... Yeah. Nice to meet you too."

Ricolise puts down two cakes - free of charge, she says, but Eco knows that just means he'll have to work an extra shift - and leaves them. Belca picks at the yellow cake, scraping white frosting off with his fork. Eco watches him, then, as soon as a piece from it, leans over and catches it between his teeth.

The response is instantaneous. Belca jerks his fork towards himself, Eco jerks back, and a staring contest ensues. Eco's stare is friendly; Belca's is harsh, confused, and irritated. It ends when Belca returns to staring at the piece of cake, eyeing Eco warily until he's sure he won't move again; he takes a bite of the cake, mutters, "_Oh._", but doesn't stop the furitive looks. Eco catches one, winks, and takes a bite of the cake himself. Belca scowls, stops looking, and eats.

It's quiet - they're the only ones in the café, and how abhorred in Eco's imagination the cliché is - until they finish. There's still daylight to waste, and Eco insists on pulling Belca out of the café and across the street. They go to a multitude of places downtown - the movie theater, the mall - and drag their feet uptown, resting in the park as it begins to get dark. The stars start to twinkle into existance, and Eco spreads his arms nice and wide.

"This is my favorite time to come to the park. It's nice and quiet, and it's the best place in this town to watch the stars."

Belca snorts and glances at the rising moon, then back towards the residential area.

"I should be getting home-"

"No! There's still so much to do!"

"Eco - that's your name, right? - Eco, it's getting late. What else could there be?"

Eco frowns and takes a seat on a nearby bench, patting it until Belca sits beside him. He clasps his hands together loosely, letting them hang in front of his knees as he leans forward. Belca leans back, sighs, and stares at the sky.

A star shoots by, and he's up in an instance. Eco giggles and looks up.

"There's a meteor shower tonight. Make a wish!"

"That's a stupid old wives' tale. Nothing comes out of that."

"I wonder."

Something in Eco's voice makes Belca look down at him; there's a certain wonderment in the violet eyes, and he frowns. Eco frowns right back, but he can't keep it for like; a smile shines through, as usual (since when did this become a usual?), and he locks eyes with Belca.

"I wished on a star last night that someone cute would talk to me today. And I got you!"

Belca flushes a hundred different shades of red and breaks eye contact with Eco, staring at the sky instead. Eco giggles, stretches up with his hands still clasped, and stands.

"It's getting late! I'll walk you home."

They walk the bike as they walk home; Eco slows down as they reach the far-reaching light of the porch, stopping at the mailbox. Belca glances towards the house, thne shrugs and turns.

"Thanks for showing me around. It was fun, I guess."

"- So you wouldn't mind going out again?"

Belca snaps back around and stares. Eco grins and waves his fingers.

"I'm kidding. I'll be at the café if you ever want to visit, Belca! See you around!"

Before Belca can even think of a coherent response, Eco's off, leisurely dodging parked cars and laughing into the waning moon's light.


	4. Chapter 4

The night is cold, really cold, and Belca wonders why he snuck out to wait in it. He knows the reason - Eco had whispered there was a special place he wanted to show him, and that they couldn't risk being followed - but _why_ he's actually going through with this is the question. He doesn't wonder too long, because Eco rides up on a bicycle built for two and Belca has to stop himself from groaning. He rings the bell, and Belca can't help himself.

"Really, Eco?"

"I thought it'd be better for us! Come on, we gotta go."

Belca reluctantly gets on the second seat, glad for the darkness, and they (embarrassingly, in his opinion) bike up The Hill and across a bridge, two miles later. He's tired and cold and about to tell Eco off when they suddenly stop and the sky _fills_ with light. Red, blue, green, violet, gold - every color reflects off the clouds like an aurora borealis. Belca's speechless, and Eco can't help fimself; he grins and turns around, grabs Belca's hands (and Eco's hands are warm, and his nose is red, and his weird-ass eyes are as bright as the stars hidden above them) and Belca can't help but smile a little too.

"Beautiful, isn't it? There's a fireworks factory about five miles west from here, and every Friday night they set them off to test. IT really is too far off for me to bike by mself, so I end up just coming out this far and watching the clouds."

When Eco mentions fireworks, he can taste the faint, bitter acidic smoke on the wind, and he can almost imagine the bangs and whistles of rockets and poppers. Eco turns back to watch before he can reply, leaving a faint warmth growing freezing fast, and they watch in until the last light fades away an hour later. By then, they've left the bike on the ground and climbed a tree. Eco's hands had felt warm pulling him up, and they still feel warm covering his on the branch now. Eco looks like he wants to do something, but apparently decides against it, as they're home not five minutes later. Belca can see Orcelito waiting at the mailbox as they close in, and he grits his teeth at the oncoming lecture. He doesn't get one; he gets a tight hug, a dismissal, and from the living roo mwindow he can see Eco's the one getting an earful. Belca escapes to bed before Orcelito decides to change his mind, and he lays quietly in the darkness of his room.


	5. Chapter 5

He's almost asleep when he hears a pop and a splash of color erupts outside his window and when he looks, there's a giant, sparkling firework. The cause of it going off isn't to be found, but Belca thinks he knows who it is anyways, so he sneaks out his window and heads to Ricolise's café. Eco's bicycle is parked outside, so he goes in and finds him singing. Evidentally, he doesn't notice Belca despite the door's bell ringing and the loud click it makes when it shuts, because he literally jumps when he notices him. Belca takes a seat, orders coffee for two, and waits for Eco to finish bussign tables. He sits across from him when he is, and they drink quietly until Belca breaks it.

"Why'd you put fireworks outside my window?"

Eco stirs his coffee once, sips twice, and replies,

"You liked it when we went out the other night, right? So I thought I'd bring you some."

Belca stirs his coffee twice, sips once, and sighs.

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

Belca's quiet again as he finishes his coffee. Eco never finishes his; he just lets it grow cold and pours it out when he takes the cups to the back. When he returns, Belca's lounging against a window, looking out and thinking.

"What'd Orcelito say to you?"

Eco glances up at him, then back cleaning the table they sat at. Even, circular strokes to get it shining, and he doesn't answer until it's through.

"Just that I shouldn't keep you out so late! He was really worried."

"That all?"

There's more than Eco's willing t olet on, and Belca knows it, but when he nods he doesn't press for more answers. For a split second, he looks embarrassed, then he shrugs and heads for the door.

"Night, Eco. Thanks for the coffee."

"You could stay here for the night."

Belca stops halfway out the door, considering, then shakes his head.

"I didn't tell anyone I was going out."

Eco shoos him out then and hangs the CLOSED sign when the door's shut. He waves out the window until Belca's turned the corner, and collapses gracefully into a seat. He doesn't notice Belca at the window until he starts banging on it; as soon as he has Eco's attention, he fogs up the glass with his breath, writes a number on it, and mouths, '_Call me_.' Eco hurries to write it down and, at the end of the night, the napkin with Belca's number is carefully tucked into his notebook and he's happily asleep in the café's spare room.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Meet me behind the school_," he texts. "_I have something to show you._"

Belca's standing behind the school, now, skipping class in favor of seeing what Eco has to show him. He's sitting on one of the garbage bins by the vanding machines, listening to their metalic hum contrast with the nature's birds. He closes his eyes for a moment, letting the sun's warmth wash over him, and feels a calloused hand grab his own to pull him off of it. He thumps against a chest, _knows_ it's Eco by the smell of strawberry champagne, and opens his eyes to see violet irises, and feels his ears warm up.

"Do you have to be so close?"

"Yeah, coz what I'm gonna show you requires it."

Belca isn't expecting what Eco shows him. He doesn't expect to be kissed or to be pressed against the vending machine; he doesn't expect to hear its mechanical thrum in his ear, he doesn't expect to feel Eco's body heat radiating to him, he doesn't expect to be cornered by long arms and slender fingers, and he doesn't expect to _not_ hate the idea of kissing Eco. He doesn't like it, per say, but it's- bearable. It's nice. Different. Eco breaks the kiss, leans his forehead on Belca's, and smiles.

"Well?"

"...Well what?"

"What'd you think?"

Belca's sure Eco can just see how he feels - sometimes, he feels like an open book to the novelist, even though the latter is an enigma to him - and scowls in reply, annoyed.

"It was stupid. I thought you had something important to show me."

"Kisses _are_ important!"

To prove a point, Eco kisses him again, and it's a little rougher this time; it's a little rougher, a little hotter, a littler stickier, and the last two are from the sun. August is no time to be pressed against vending machines, even cool soft drink ones, or to be pressed against anything in _general_, and they separate after a moment. Belca sits in the sunshine, in front of the machine; Eco takes a spot in the shadow of the dumpsters. They stare at the other, then Belca raises his elbow, slams it into the machine behind him, and takes the bottled water it coughs up.

It's a pretty cool thing to do, he realizes, and Eco seems to realize that it's a good place to end it, so he gets up, stretches, and scratches the back of his neck.

"Kisses are gifts, Belca. Don't take them for granted!"

Belca waves him off and unscrews the cap of his water, closing his eyes while he drinks. When he opens them up, chugging done and water gone, Eco's gone, too, with the sound of someone singing almsot drowned out by the quiet, mechanical hum behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Pink and purple dance on a stage of blue; it's honest to God beautiful from the rooftops, and despite the chilly wind, he's thankful for taking the time to come up. He leans against the brick that serves as a thick railing, running his fingers (hypersensitive form the cold, and every brush or bump feels like a hot knife scraping across his skin) against the rise and fall of the concrete, wincing slightly. He'd been up here before, in August, skipping class in the middle of the day and regretting the sun that ticked until noon and left the rooftop shadowless.

That was alone. He had company now; warm company pressing against his side, writing furiously in a weathered book, turning pages as soon as they fill to the brim with cute, curvy lettering. Belca spares a glance beside him, into the book, but his company just pulls it against his chest and shakes his head.

"You can't read it!"

"Why not?"

"It isn't done!"

If there was one thing of many that puzzled him about Eco, it was that he never showed anyone what he was doing until it was finished. This apparently had been the buzz back in his high school days; the 'weird poet kid who kept getting in trouble with the Creative Writing teacher because he wouldn't participate in class critiques' had been the first example of rule one: don't go against your teacher. Still, the novelist keeps quiet about it, and Belca doesn't ask to see it when the pen's been put down and the book's been closed with a happy sigh. They watch the rays fade slowly, covering the town in night, and get down the same way they got up: climbing. It's rougher going down than getting up, with his hands too aware of the temperature, and he's sticking them in his pockets the second his feet hit the ground and Eco's beside him.

"We should do this again sometime."

A writhing look. Eco pointedly ignores it.

"When it's not so cold! Eco doesn't really do well with the chill..."

"Then why do you come down here for winter?"

Belca colors at the smile Eco gives him - mysterious, not answering, and tinged with sweetness.


End file.
